Lee holford



(No VModen L. HOLPORD.

WRENCH v Patented Feb. 8, 1898.

L @aE-05H0 NZ; gnou/woz iran rares Aran LEE HOLFORD, OF NEBO, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR OF TIVO-TIIIRDS TO PETER MARTIN, OF SAME PLACE.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,783, dated February8, 1898.

Application filed April 20 189 7.

T0 all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, LEE HOLFORD, a citizen of the United states,residing at Neto, in th county of Pike and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in IVrenches; andIdo herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wrenches,and more particularly to a wrench of special adaptation, the objectbeing to provide asecuring device or wrench for so locking the nut uponthe end of an axle that it will rotate with the wheel and be removedfrom its seat by the operation of movin gthe wheel for the purpose ofoiling the axle or otherwise.

The details of my invention will be described in the followingspecification, pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in whichi Figure lis a perspective view of myinvention as applied to use upon a wheel. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalcentral section of the wrench. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of thewrench complete, while Fig. 4 is a side view of the outer face of thefrictional jaw.

Briefly stated, my invention consists inproviding a pair of locking andfrictional jaws, the first for engagement with the nut, while the latterare designed to bind against the inner face of the hub-rim and thuscause the entire device and the nut to rotate as the wheel is turned.

In carrying out my invention I provide the shaft 1,`which is preferablysquare in crosssection, though any preferred form may be employed, andupon said shaft I loosely mount the locking-jaws 2 and 3, each beingprovided with the inward collar l for more reliably seating the jaws inposition. Interposed between said jaws is the coil-spring 5, the officeof which is to'hold said jaws normally extended. Movably mounted uponthe ends of the shaft l are thefrictional jaws 6 and 7, having thestraight or parallel internal faces and the convex or rounded outerfaces, the latter being designed for frictional contact with the innersurface of the hub-rim 8, as shown in Fig. l.

Serial No, 632,977. (No model.)

The outer faces of the jaws 6 and 7 are preferably roughened in orderthat a more reliable frictional grasp may be set up between `them andsaid rim. By reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the jaws 6 and 7are held in operative combination with the inner jaws by the shaft l,having the headla and the securing-nut l?, and that while said jaws maybe 'forced inward against the tension of the spring 5 their outermovement will thus be circumscribed.

Seated in a threaded aperture provided in the jaws 6 and 7 and extendingentirely through the same into engagement with the outer faces of thelocking-jaws 2 and 3 are the adjusting or thumb screws 9, by means ofwhich the locking-jaws are brought rmly into engagement with the nut,while the frictional jaws by the same operation are brought to bearfirmly against the inner face of the rim 8.

It will be seen that the jaws 6 and 7 have an inward and outward playupon the shaft 1 and that the act of binding the `inner jaws against thenutwill result in an outward movement of the frictional jaws, thusbinding all the parts securely into engagement with the vwheel to theend that the wrench will rotate therewith and thus cause the nut to beremoved from the end of the axle by Vthe simple act of rotating thewheel.

By the construction I have just described it will be apparent that theprincipal advantages arising from the use of my improved wrench residesin the fact that the act of removing the wheel is made a cleanlyoperation, as it is unnecessary for the operator to come in contact withthe nut, as any of the spokes provide a sufficient leverage for removingthe wheel.

The operation of my improved wrench may be stated to be as follows: rIhefrictional jaws are pressed toward each other suiciently to cause themto freely enter the rim 8, when the tension of the spring 5 will tend tohold the parts in position. By properly rotating the thumb-screws 9 thelocking-jaws will be forced tightly against the nut, while thefrictional jaws will be brought into engagement with .the rim, when thewheel maybe turned sufficiently to release the nut from the axle andthen removed for the purpose of lubrica- IOO.

tion. After the oiling process has been completed the wheel is againplaced in position upon the axle, when it will be found that the nut isstill in readiness to receive the threaded end of said axle, when areverse rotation of the wheel will reliably seat the nut in position,when the wrench may be removed by releasing the pressure induced by thethumbscrews 9.

It will be seen that I have produced a wrench of great simplicity whichmay be cheaply manufactured and supplied at a comparatively small cost,and believing that the advantages, construction, and use of my inventionwill be lnade fully apparent from the foregoing description furtherreference to the details is dispensed with.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improvement in nut-wrenches, the combination of a pair of innerjaws, a pair of outer jaws, each pair being movably mounted upon aholder or shaft; individual set-screws seated in the outer jaws andtaking through the same into contact with the outer surface of the innerjaws, and a spring mounted upon said shaft or holder and interposedbetween the inner pair of jaws, whereby said jaws will be normally in anopen or extended position,

all operatively combined in the manner and for the purpose set fort-h.

2. As a new article of manufacture, the herein-described Wrench,consisting of an inner pair of jaws movably mounted upon a holder orshaft, an outer pair of jaws inclosing said inner jaws and movablymounted upon the same shaft and carrying adjustingscrews, designed tobear against the inner jaws, and a spring interposed between the innerjaws and designed to hold them normally extended, substantially asdescribed and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEE HOLFORD.

Witnesses:

PETER MARTIN, JOHN L. ZUMMALT.

